Kim Shin-wook from Jeonbuk Motors shouts out for joy after scoring a goal in the game against Jeju United at Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Saturday. / Yonhap

By John Duerden The 2018 K-League season was something of a procession with Jeonbuk Motors dominating pretty much from start to finish as it has for some time. The team has won four out of the past five Korean titles by some distance, but may find that it is pushed much more this season.Ulsan Horang-i has stepped up a gear and last season's third-placed team has started very well and went top of the league on May 12 with a spirited 2-1 win over Jeonbuk at home. That victory showed Jeonbuk that Ulsan is ready to fight for a first title since 2013.Brazilian striker Junior Negrao has kept up his impressive scoring rate from last season, but the Tigers have strengthened a squad that was already looking good. The arrival of Kim Bo-kyung from Kashiwa Reysol in Japan has helped. The former English Premier League star is also a Jeonbuk alumni, but is lending his skills and soccer intelligence to Ulsan. United States midfielder Mikkei Diskerud is an authoritative figure in the middle and there is strength in depth to Ulsan this season. Jeonbuk is going to have its work cut out.A fine 3-1 win at Suwon Bluewings on Saturday preserved Ulsan's position at the top. What is more impressive is that Ulsan, as well as Jeonbuk, has made it to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League with a game in the group stage left to spare. Winning games at home and abroad takes it out of a team, but both teams can relax for a while from Asian concerns.Other teams are not in the same position.Gyeongnam finished second last season, but has found life in a first-ever Champions League tournament hard to handle. The team from the south still has a chance to progress to the round of 16 on the continent if it wins Wednesday, but it need other results to go the right way. Whatever happens in Asia, the team needs to improve its domestic form.FC Seoul was, in 2016, the last team to deny Jeonbuk the title (and did so only because of a nine-point deduction to Jeonbuk handed out by the authorities) is back on the scene. Last season the capital club barely managed to avoid relegation to the second tier. Former coach Choi Yong-soo has returned and seems to have done more than steady the ship. There may not be the same talent in the Seoul line-up as in the past, but if the team can stay in the race for the title, that will be enough. Seoul has returned to its former heights, but Daegu FC is in uncharted waters. The team has never been a power in the K-League, but has spent much of this season in the top four, unusually so, but has impressed in a first appearance in the Champions League.If Daegu manages to tie or win at Guangzhou Evergrande, Asian champion in 2013 and 2015, in midweek it will progress to the knockout stage. It would be a stunning outcome. It would be just as good if Jeonbuk gets a stiff challenge at home for a change.